Hermione the Teacher
by StrongHermione
Summary: Hermione's study time is interrupted by one of the Champions who is having difficulty mastering a spell. Written for Round 1 on the Quidditch League Fan Fiction Competition.


_Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling et al. Any characters or locations you recognise are the intellectual property of these individuals and corporations. I make no money from the writing of this story._

_This is written for the first round of the Quidditch League competition. The prompt is:_ _Friendship - A pairing of your choice, write something that is a platonic friendship between the two characters. Any two characters are welcome (canon or not), however, there must be NO hint of romance between your two characters. Remember No Romance!_

_I hope you enjoy._

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"Swish, swish, flick, swish, flick, flick, swish."

Hermione Granger lifted her head from the tome she was intently studying and listened as a somewhat familiar, masculine voice repeated 'swish' and 'flick' instructions in a combination she had never heard.

"Figures its non-verbal too," she heard the same voice muttering. Her curiosity piqued, she rose from the table at which she had sequestered herself, hidden behind a mountain of reference books and moved to the edge of the bookcase that was hindering her view of the muttering boy. Peering around it slowly, the shelf fell away to reveal Cedric Diggory absorbed in the pages of what looked to be a large Charms compendium. "Swish, swish, flick, swish, flick, flick, swish," he repeated slowly, moving his wand in time with the words. He growled in frustration.

"Do you need some help?" Hermione asked.

Cedric jumped and yelped, having been completely focused on the task before him. His breathing had quickened when he was startled and he panted a little to help bring it back under control.

"Sorry," Hermione said with an apologetic twist to her mouth.

"It's alright," Cedric said once he had regained his voice. "Granger, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, you sound like you're having some difficulty," she said, gesturing to the book.

"This would have to be one of the most difficult Charms I've ever come across." He poked the book as though it was the one at fault for containing such a problematic spell.

"I'm good at Charms," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Which one is it?"

"The Bubble-head Charm," Cedric replied.

"Hmm, I think I've heard of that," Hermione said absently as she rifled through the catalogue of Charms she held in her head. "Yes, the Bubble-head Charm is the most effective spell for breathing underwater or in any environment where fresh air is at a premium, allowing one a supply of oxygen. It causes a protective bubble to form about the caster's head, like a helmet; this bubble may allow for underwater exploration or to avoid nasty smells, although wizards with bad breath have reported problems after the… first thirty… minutes…." she trailed off at the end when she noticed the astonished look on Cedric's face.

"That is _word-for-word_, Granger!" he said in amazement, looking down at the spell's description in the book.

"Yes, well, I have the ability to regurgitate text books. Call it my party trick," she said a little bitterly. It was not her fault she had an eidetic memory and a seeming _in_ability to translate the words she read into her own. It was one of the reasons she spent so long on her homework each night, to make sure the words she had used did not appear to be copied directly from a book.

"Good party trick," Cedric praised with a thoughtful nod of his head. "How's your ability at actually casting the spells though?"

"All right," Hermione said humbly. They were usually much better than '_all right_'. Professor Flitwick had confided in her his belief that because she understood completely the theory behind each spell, her magic was able to have a clearer focus and she could perform the spells much quicker than her classmates.

"Good, because this one is tricky," he said, turning the book and pushing toward her.

"Swish, swish, flick, swish, flick, flick, swish," she read out loud. "Wow, you weren't just muttering nonsense," she said as she looked back up at him. "This is quite complicated, isn't it?"

"And its non-verbal so you're not only concentrating on the multiple wand movements, there's also no incantation out loud that you can match them to," Cedric complained.

"Non-verbal?" she asked. "Have you learned that already?" She had observed all the adult Weasleys performing non-verbal spells throughout her time at the Burrow and the Quidditch World Cup before school started. She wondered when it would be that she would begin to learn that skill.

"Started this year," he answered. "It just adds to the complicatedness of it."

"It shouldn't," she said thoughtfully. "You are still saying the incantation, just silently. You should get the wand movements down first while saying the spell out loud and then once they are second nature; move the spell into your head—like this." Hermione began the first swish movement while saying the words to the spell slowly, exaggerating the inflections and nuances clearly.

"_Spirant et pervivo_. You try it," she instructed.

"_Spirr-ant ay per-veevo_," Cedric repeated.

"Nearly, speak like an Italian, it helps with the Latin," she said. "_Spirant et pervivo_." Diggory repeated the words again and again, Hermione lending her voice to his to help him. "Make sure the words in your head are exactly as they should sound—_spirant et pervivo_."

After several tries he threw his wand down in frustration. "It's just too hard!" he complained.

"It looks to me like you're trying to learn it all at once. You keep mixing up your swishes and flicks," she lectured. "Forget the incantation completely. Learn the swish and flick pattern off by heart first." She handed his wand back to him and drew her own. "We'll do it together," she said supportively. They began to wave their wands as the spell demanded. After a good twenty minutes, Cedric was able to swish and flick his wand in the required configuration like it was second nature.

"Good, good," she praised him. "You should practise that every chance you get. Now we just need to add in the incantation."

There followed another fifteen frustrating minutes of trying to match the words with the wand movements.

"Maybe there's a reason this is non-verbal," Hermione said almost in desperation. "Maybe saying the words out loud interferes with the flow of the wand," she speculated.

"What do you mean?" he asked. He pointed at the book with his wand and swished and flicked silently. The book gently rose into the air. "In my head I swished as I said _Wingardium_ and flicked as I said _Leviosa_, just like I would if I said it out loud."

"That's the property of _that_ spell. Just _think_ the words as you move your wand, don't try to match them with a wand movement," Hermione suggested. Cedric sighed and tried it. Nothing happened. "Try thinking the words on every movement?"

"What, over and over again?" Cedric asked in confusion.

"Sorry, no, try thinking them on the first movement, then if that doesn't work on the second and so forth until you get it," she said. He tried this as well but nothing worked.

"It's been over an hour," Hermione said. "Maybe you should take a break."

"Okay, are you going to the ball?" he asked.

Hermione was taken aback by the non-sequitur. "Um, yes," she almost blurted. "Are you?"

"I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Hermione let out a laugh. "I guess not. Harry is quite nervous; apparently the Champions have to open the dancing."

"Yes, I had to write and apologise to my mother for trying to insist I wouldn't need those dancing lessons she made me take as a child," Cedric confided. "Are you going to the ball with Harry?"

"NO! I mean, no, why would you ask that?" Hermione stumbled.

"Alright, settle down, I just thought the two of you were quite close, you're always together after all, except most of the times you're in here," he observed.

"We are quite close, but we're only friends," she stressed. "Someone else invited me; I'm not sure who Harry's taking yet. You're taking Cho Chang, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I asked her straight away," Cedric said with a smile. Hermione easily returned it.

"I like her; she's smart, funny and good looking. I'm only smart," she said as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Hey, don't be like that," Cedric said. "Yes, you're wicked smart, but there's nothing wrong with how you look and I bet you could be funny if you put your mind to it, Granger. Cho's great, but I'm telling you now she wouldn't be able to help me the way you are right now—she can't explain a concept to save her life. People think she's studious, always doing her homework and studying, but she's really trying to figure out how to put words onto paper so the professors can understand her. I haven't had any difficulty understanding you since you joined me."

Hermione blushed at his praise. "Maybe we should try again," she suggested. Cedric nodded and picked up his wand. "Thank you," she whispered. He nodded with a friendly smile and tried the spell again. Yet again it did not work.

"Do you think it would work if I concentrated on _you_ saying the words in my head?" Cedric asked. Hermione had the words down pat, surely it was easier to focus on the memory of her saying the words rather than trying to remember them properly himself while at the same time trying to concentrate on getting the wand movement right.

With a thoughtful look on her face, Hermione agreed he should attempt it. "Also try concentrating on the memory of the words first then do the wand movements," she advised.

Cedric took a deep breath, which Hermione unconsciously copied, and stilled for a moment, then he began to wave his wand, flicking it on the last movement toward his chin. A large bubble appeared, completely encasing his mouth and nose. Hermione let out a quiet, excited squeal and started bouncing in her chair and clapping. The happiness in her eyes was reflected by Cedric, whose eyes also held a look of triumph. He cancelled the charm and tried it twice more.

"You've got it!" Hermione praised.

"Thanks for your help, Granger, I really couldn't have done it without you," he said sincerely.

"You're welcome, I'm glad I could help," she replied. Cedric began to pack up his belongings and returned the giant book back to the shelf. Hermione rose to go back to her own work.

"Oh, and remember to take a breath mint before you cast it for a long period of time," she teased.

He turned and gave her a mock-offended look. "Are you saying I have bad breath?" he asked.

"I'm just saying your nose will appreciate the minty freshness much more than your left-over lunch," she replied with an angelic grin.

Cedric leaned forward slightly. "And you said you're not funny," he pointed out with a wink. He straightened and turned to walk away.

Hermione giggled and turned the corner to go back to her table to finish her work. A sudden, horrifying thought came to her. '_What if I just helped him with something for the tournament?_' She had assumed it was simply something for class. After a few minutes of quietly hyperventilating at the idea she had just helped her best friend's rival possibly beat him in the upcoming challenge, her more logical side reasoned that she would still be devoting all her efforts to assisting Harry and she could always guide him to the same spell if need be.

She was glad she had been able to help someone else for a change, it had been quite refreshing.

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_[1] Hermione's explanation of the Bubble-head Charm is lifted from the Harry Potter Wiki, which referenced Wonderbook: Book of Spells as its source._

_The spell '_spirant et pervivo_' is a direct translation – 'breathe and survive'._

_I know Hermione was instrumental in trying to find a solution for Harry for the Second Task, let's pretend she thought Harry would not want to be seen as copying Cedric so she tried to guide him to the same book and discover it for himself. In the end he got the Gillyweed which is much cooler, anyhow._

_Please leave a review if you would like to but there is absolutely no obligation._


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